Dr Carlson was the guest editor for the February 2019 issue of Practical Neurology.
A Coming of Age for Neuroimmunology
Increasingly complex diagnostics and highly effective disease-modifying therapy come with challenges in clinical decision making.
By Aaron M. Carlson, MD
When asked to serve as guest editor for this issue, I sought to achieve a single goal: to provide updated information necessary to safely diagnose and treat people with multiple sclerosis and related conditions. The care of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) has become increasingly complex and shows no signs of letting up. The era of highly-effective medications is here, and soon we will have multiple new medications within established classes of medications. Diagnosis of MS continues to improve with the 2017 revisions of the McDonald Criteria, but misdiagnosis of MS is common, and guidance is needed to avoid this situation or reverse an incorrect diagnosis. In this issue, we provide guidance on diagnosis and an approach to misdiagnosis anchored in our updated understanding of MS pathophysiology. We continue by providing updates and expert discussion of treatments not only of MS but also neuromyelitis optica and anti-MOG–related disease.